The Islamic Empires - Imperial Society (762-766)

Imperial Islamic Society

The Dynastic State

• Ottoman, Safavid, Mughal empires all military creations (rulers saw them as possessions of conquest)
  • Emperors owned all land and granted usage on a hereditary basis to peasants in return for fixed taxation
  • Authority of dynasty obtained from personal piety and military prowess of ruler
  • Rulers wanted to extend faith to new lands
• Steppe traditions
  • autocratic authority: emperors pushed their own will on the state
    • Ottoman "Suleyman the Magnificent"- issued kanun (laws)
    • Shah Ismail forced Shiite religion
    • Akbar issued decree in 1579 claiming authority in religious matters

FC

• Struggles in Authority
  • Ruler's relatives managed componets of the state
  • The Mughal empire had struggles between son and fathers for power
  • Early in the history of the Ottoman Empire, the sultan's sons administered the provinces
  • After the 15th century, the sultans moved to eliminate family rivals
    • Mehmed the Conqueror decreed that a ruler could legally kill of his brothers after taking the throne
    • In 1595, a sultan killed 19 brothers, many of whom were infants, and 15 expectant mothers

• Women and Politics
  • Many Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal emperors followed Chinggis Khan, who revered his mother and first wife
  • Ottoman courtiers commonly complained about the "rule of women"
    • Suleyman the Magnificent became infatuated with Hurrem Sultana,a concubine of Ukrainian origin
    • Suleyman made her his legal wife and consulted her on state policies
    • He later killed his eldest son for treason when Hurrem wanted him eliminated for the succession of her child
  • Sah Jaahan's devotion to his wife, Mumtaz Mahal, can be seen from the Taj Mahal

• Food crops
  • Each empire used a surplus of agriculture to finance armies and bureaucreacies
  • They mostly relied on wheat and rice
  • The Columbian exchange brought American crops to the Islamic Empires, but with less of an effect than it had on other areas

TN

• Tobacco and Coffee
  • English merchants introduced tobacco around 1600
  • Within in a few decades it became popular in the Ottoman empire
  • Increase in pipe smoking and coffee drinking lead to coffeehouses
    • Coffeehouses attracted crowds of idlers and riffraff
  • Religious leaders claimed coffee was an illegal beverage
  • Sultan Murad IV outlawed coffee and tobacco and executed those who continued to partake
  • Eventually coffeehouses became a prominent social institution in the Islamic world
• Population growth
  • Population of India surged during early modern times: 105 million-135 million (1500-1600) and 165 million-190 million (1700-1800)
  • Resulted more from intensive agriculture along traditional lines than from the influence of new crops
  • Safavid population grew less rapidly: 5-6 million (1500-1600) and 6-8 million (1600-1800)
  • Ottomans: 9-28 million (1500-1600)

TD

Religious affairs in the Islamic Empire

• Religious Diversity

All of the Islamic empires had both religiously and ethnically diverse populations; which gave imperial rulers the difficult task of maintaining harmony between them.

• Christian Mission in India

Portuguese Goa became the center for the Indian Christian mission. In 1580 some Portuguese Jesuits were invited by Akabar to go to the Mughal court; they invisioned converting the emperor and then spreading Christianity throughout India but had their hopes extinguished when after cordially recieving them Akabar declined devoting himself to one religion that might alienate many of his subjects.

• Akabar's Divine Faith

Akabar supported the efforts of early Sikhs who combined pieces from Hinduism and Islam. He also tried to create his own "divine faith" which emphasized loyalty to the emperor but borrowed from different religious traditions and philosophies, but drew most heavily on Islam. It was strictly monotheistic and reflected the influence of Sufi and Shiite teachings but also glorified the emperor, akabar even went as far as to refer to himself as the "lord of wisdom".

• Status of Religious Minorities

The Islamic empires had a long established model to help them deal with subjects who weren't Muslims. They didn't require their subjects to convert but extened them to the status of protected people (dhimmi). In return for being loyal they were payed a special tax called jizya, dhimmi communities kept their personal freedom, property, practiced their religion and handled their own legal affairs.

• Promotion of Islam

Policies of religious tolerence weren't popular with many Muslims who thought that they would lose their religious identity and that it might lead to their absorbtion into Hindu society as another caste. But to the dismay of many Muslims the jizya policy and promoted Islam as the official faith of Mughal India; this caused bitterness and tension between Hindu and Muslim communities in India which persisted throughout the Mughal dynasty.

JC